Take a look at this article from WorldVentures.com. This company comes highly recommended by travel enthusiasts world wide. They are a travel club that will also allow you to be an affiliate. By joining the program, you have access to the best travel rates guaranteed or your money back. What drew me to them is the opportunity to travel, then incorporate travel writing. Maybe you have a similar idea that works for you.

If you would like more information, go to jessicaolma.dreamtrips.com or jessicaolma.worldventures.biz and then ask me some questions at Scribesyndicate@gmail.com.

The results of LinkedIn’s data show something that makes sense to a freelancer like me. I was never meant to successfully integrate into the social norm of commuting to an office daily. I’ve done it, but it is like turning myself inside out. I could never understand why it affected me this way when everyone else seemed to accept it without issue. I grew up in a mostly self- employed family. While they worked hard, they did it for themselves, not for someone else. Now freelancers are being seen as “LinkedIn power users”.

I remember working on a resume more than once and being told to keep the word “entrepreneur” out of it. No one wants to know you might be working from home or have your own business because it smacks of someone who is not a “team player”. I highly disagree, and I think it is catching on finally with the general public. It takes great initiative to create your own line of work, motivate yourself daily, market yourself, and make it economically sound. If you are focused on what you do and it then becomes a part of a larger function when you are contracted to work with others, what are you if not a “team player”? No one is good at everything. That is why it takes groups of people to get a project done. For some freelancers, technology now allows us to work both individually and as a group without the actual commute or even being in the same room.

Not all personalities are designed for this approach, but for the personalities that are, I have seen evidence that these freedoms from time and place of work make them happier and more productive than ever. This brings me to quality of life. Since we do not all react to these situations the same, I suspect a large part of society that works in the 9 to 5 corporate structure is suffering when it comes to quality of life. Hundreds of employees show up for work, but only a small percentage is getting anything done. Only a few are working effectively while the rest are biding time for their paycheck on Friday.

Back to the LinkedIn article that inspired today’s writing Be Your Own Boss: Tracking the Freelance Economy with LinkedIn Data. Media and communications, as well as engineering and software development, are areas that contractors can be found most often on LinkedIn and other career sites, and without the use of staffing agencies. Obviously LinkedIn is a great resource allowing you to see specific skills and other valuable data. There are clear bonuses to hiring contractors or freelance workers when it comes to payroll and benefits. For a fair rate, they gladly handle taxes, health, life insurance, and retirement benefits on their own.

Freelancers are the best choice for small or temporary jobs. They are usually dividing their time between clients and are not bothered by short term assignments that may or may not be extended depending on an outcome further down the line. It is what they do. These gigs fill in periods of inactive or possible part time unemployed status and allow them to continue to make an income.

LinkedIn has started a study for a new tool called LinkedIn Pro in the San Francisco area aimed at freelance contractors in design, writing/editing, and accounting services. If it goes well, we may all get to experience it. They hope to inspire other people to market their skills a little differently. Kudos to LinkedIn for noticing the value of the freelance community!

I believe a term for someone who works for themselves from home on a laptop is “Solopreneur”. I resemble this definition as a freelance writer. I am a social media content writer who created her own job since the economy failed to produce a viable option within a reasonable time frame. I like to think my choice to write resulted from creative problem solving. Reading, writing, and fine art, have always been a part of my life so it made sense to stick with what I know. Some people express their doubts about the ability to step outside the general 40 hour, 9 to 5, set location career. I like my way better and absolutely stand behind it.

I get out of bed around 6:30 or 7:00am in the spring and summer, and around 8:30am in the fall and winter. Sunlight is my waking catalyst. As long as I determine my own hours, that scenario makes the most sense to me. I wash my face, brush my teeth, make a bowl of cereal with a cup of coffee, and sit down in front of my laptop to begin the day. Always intending to sip coffee while perusing my emails and checking social media, I continue on into article research and writing to find it is 2:00pm already and I missed lunch.

I sit at my kitchen table and it is often cluttered with mail and sticky notes, maybe the occasional snack food wrapper, bottle of water, and often, breakfast dishes, still sitting there. I sit in my pajamas while working because it is a luxury not to be pressed for time and have to dress for work. I take full advantage of that aspect of my job. By the 2:00pm missed lunch time (yes, a quick bite in front of the computer), I am ready for one of three things:

A scheduled appointment with a client requiring a shower and proper attire

Errands to run with shower optional. change out of pajamas

A workout at the gym with a definite shower and change afterward

Some writers have a talisman of some kind on their desk to keep them company or remind them of their purpose. The closest thing I have to that is my Alpaca teddy bear. My sister and I mail it back and forth to each other depending on who is having a bigger emotional crisis. He’s been with me for a while, but I think it’s her turn now. This bear would be the day-shift talisman, replaced after 5:00pm with the occasional glass of wine.

I sit and work silently, no music or TV, and sometimes, my boyfriend who works from home as a consultant, chimes in from the other side of the table to ask a question or make a remark that I only halfway hear. He will go to the gym with me or tag along on errands to step back from the computer for a bit, stretch the legs, and attempt to recover the eyes ability to focus long distance.

Quick food solutions for the afternoon would be cereal, soup, and crackers with or without cheese. I am a “carb-0-holic” and need to be prompted to eat protein. Eggs for breakfast, tuna for lunch, and a yogurt for a snack, would be a goal for me to work on. I will eat more meat in the winter time though, preferably in the form of stew or meatloaf, chicken and fish with rice and vegetables. A healthy lifestyle is important to me. Afternoons, include working again on an article, research, or social media maintenance.

I like to relish my quiet evenings with dinner in front to the TV while enjoying my latest Netflix series “binge-watching” selection. american Horror Story is one I recently finished on the heels of The Walking Dead. I don’t usually gravitate to gore, it just worked out that way. Whether I like it or not, once I start a series, I need to see how it ends. The same rule applies to books for me. I will not set it aside until it is done no matter how terribly it might be written. I once read a book called, “And Something Happened” in which literally nothing happened throughout the entire thing. I had to be sure there wasn’t some unlikely surprise waiting in the last paragraph.

So these are my standard rituals ending once again in my pajamas around a 10:30pm bedtime. I will be interested to see posts of similar stories of all professions with a “Day in the Life” examples. I had fun with this post on a Saturday afternoon recovering from a cold! It is a reply to a post on LinkedIn.com, “Just a Day in a Freelancer’s Life” by Tamara Luzajic.